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Liev Schreiber (48)

4 October 1967, San Francisco, California, USA

6' 3" (1.91 m)

Liev (pronounced Lee-ev) Schreiber was born in San Francisco. His mother, Heather (Milgram), is a painter, and his father, Tell Schreiber (Tell Carroll Schreiber III), is a theatrical actor who had a small role in The Keeper (1976)...

His mother is from a working-class Jewish family from Poland and Russia, while his father is from an upper-class Protestant family. His parents moved the family to Canada when Liev was one, and divorced when he was five. He and his mother moved to New York, where she drove a cab. During that time, they lived as squatters in abandoned buildings. His mother taught him to read, and she also forbade him from seeing color movies. He grew up seeing silent and black & white movies at a local revival house and particularly enjoyed those ofCharles Chaplin. His mother now lives in an ashram in Virginia. He began acting at Hampshire College and continued at the Yale University School of Drama in 1992. He originally wanted to be a playwright, but his teacher encouraged him to become an actor.

His mother says she named him after her favorite author, Leo Tolstoy whose Russian name was Lev (pronounced "l'yehv" --the letter e in Russian is pronounced "yeh", and the standard English transliteration of the name is Lev). His father says he was named after a doctor in San Francisco who saved his mother's life.

Last name means "writer" in German.

Attended Friends Seminary High School with actress Amanda Peet when he was a senior and she was a freshman.

Liev's father is from a family that has lived in the United States for many generations, and has German, Swiss, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Norwegian, Belgian (Flemish), Scottish, and Welsh ancestry. Liev's mother is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Poland and Russia).

Frequently does voice-over and narration work for advertisements and documentaries, especially HBO's "Sports of the 20th Century" series.

Prefers to keep his dating life private, although he has been romantically linked to actressKristin Davis and to film producer Kate Driver (Minnie Driver's sister). He accompanied his girlfriend Naomi Watts to the King Kong (2005) premiere in New York. It was their first public appearance together. On February 28, 2007, they announced they are expecting their first child.

After his parents divorced, he and his siblings saw their father very little during childhood.

The role for which he won his first Tony Award (Richard Roma in "Glengarry" Glen Ross") also won Joe Mantegna the Tony Award best featured actor in a play for the same role 21 years earlier in 1984. The 2005 production was directed by Joe Mantello.

Won the 2005 Tony Award best featured actor in a play for "Glengarry Glen Ross".

Grew up in Lower East Side New York.

Growing up, his mother didn't allow him to watch color movies. The first color movie he saw was La guerra de las galaxias (1977) in 1977.

Was a fan favorite for the role of District Attorney Harvey Dent in El caballero oscuro(2008), and expressed interest for the role. He eventually lost out to Aaron Eckhart.

Became a father for the 1st time at age 39 when his fiancée Naomi Watts gave birth to their son Alexander Pete Schreiber on July 25, 2007.

Became a father for he 2nd time at age 41 when his fiancée Naomi Watts gave birth to their son Samuel Kai Schreiber on December 14, 2008.

Nominated for the 2007 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "Talk Radio".

Both Liev and Gary Sinise appear as criminal co-conspirators in 1996's Rescate (1996) . Approximately 10 years later, in a complete 180* degree turnabout, both actors independently took roles as the crime-fighting team leaders of the widely popular CSI television series. Gary's CSI: Nueva York (2004) character is "Detective Mac Taylor" and Liev's C.S.I. (2000) character is "Michael Keppler".

Nominated for the 2010 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "A View from the Bridge".